EU accreditation & Ukrainian products: expert talk for media
British expert met the media at the British Embassy to talk through accreditation & its importance for Ukraine's trade with the EU
The British Embassy Kyiv hosted a media briefing by Hugh Berridge, Resident Twinning Advisor of the closing EU-funded project Further development of National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU) capacities according to European practices.
This was the first expert-based briefing for the journalists in a series of activities of the information campaign Stronger Together aimed to explain the benefits of Ukraine’s closer association with the norms, practices and standards of the EU.
Hugh Berridge spoke about accreditation and his work for the two-year project in Ukraine. Here are some points from his presentation:
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Accreditation plays an important role in ensuring compliance of goods and services with quality and safety standards and is, therefore, necessary for consumer confidence.
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When an accredited facility tests and measures some products, manufacturers and consumers can buy and sell those goods with complete confidence.
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This will mean in the future that goods and services produced in Ukraine can be exported to 28 EU Member States without further testing or evaluation.
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During the last 2 years of the project, NAAU has achieved a great deal in terms of its international recognition but more still needs to be done.
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It is important thing for Ukraine to become a full member of the Bureau de Poids et Mesures in Paris.
Further information
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Huge Berridge was one of the founders of the accreditation movement in the UK in the late 70’s. He is a former chairman of the UK Accreditation Service. He helped establish accreditation in Ireland, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and now Ukraine.
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The National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine (NAAU) is the Ukrainian accreditation body, which was established in 2002. It is the only national organisation in Ukraine responsible for assessment and accreditation of conformity assessment bodies and works in accordance with the relevant International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 17000 series of standards and guidance.
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The €1.5m Twinning project Further development of National Accreditation Agency of Ukraine capacities according to European practices was launched by the EU Delegation to Ukraine in 2011. It was implemented by the British Standards Institute (BSI), the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS), the UK National Physical Laboratory (NPL) and the Federal Institute for Material Research and Tests in Germany (BAM).
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The expert talk is part of the information campaign Stronger Together, launched by the EU Delegation to Ukraine and EU Member States embassies on 10 September 2013, to explain the benefits of Ukraine’s closer EU association. The calendar of the campaign’s activities for September-December 2013 can be found here.